3.10.2010

O.....possum.

Last night I was coming home from a friends house when "tragedy" struck...I hit a possum. One of this little guys......cousins.
Let me set the scene for you. It was late at night on a dark rural road. I am driving along in my Honda Civic and there is a car probably a mile or so ahead of me. Suddenly, I see this...we'll just call it a blob...in the road, and I assumed it was already roadkill. I didn't have enough time to swerve, so I tried to straddle it with my tires so it would go under my car and I wouldn't give him a second death. When I got close enough, my lights shone on him and I saw him lift his little possum head (the car ahead of me had delivered the first, but not fatal, blow), he looked at me and it was like one of those classic Hollywood slow motion moments where our eyes locked, everything slowed down and we both knew what was about to happen...and that is when I heard IT....the unmistakable THUNK!!!! I closed my eyes in a knee jerk, mortified reaction....I had just killed a living creature. I no longer drove a high riding Jeep Grand Cherokee that would have cruised over him with no problem...I drove a lowrider Honda Civic, that delivered the final and fatal blow to Mr. Possum. If I still had my Jeep, or if I had been able to swerve maybe his life would have been saved, or maybe it was already to late for this fine possum friend...I guess I will never know. I can only apologize to frequent road kill creatures everywhere and say that I will try to do better next time.

3 comments:

amy said...

Umm...this is hilarious. I love the drama with which you recount the event. I also love that you continue to insist that I live in "rural" America. Hope that you are somehow managing to recover from your harrowing ordeal. The title is oh-so-clever as well.

A.J. said...

Ha...well I am simply recounting the events exactly how they occured with no embellishing whatsoever ;)
seriously though he did sit up and look at me and his face and that sound are burned into my mind! I may need some counseling to get through it!

amy said...

What? Was I implying that there was embellishment?? :-)

While you may have sensed a touch of sarcasm in my previous comment, I must honestly say that I would be mortified as well. Perhaps the reason why my eyes automatically close when something comes near the front of my car...

Maybe we can debrief and help you work through your tragedy tomorrow night...